Suppression of MHD Effects in Liquid Metals through Solid Insulation Particle Doping

Abstract

Suppressing the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect in the liquid tritium breeder is key to ensuring the safe and stable operation of the tritium breeding blanket in a fusion reactor.To address this issue, this study proposes a novel strategy for regulating the MHD effect by doping with solid insulating particles.Based on the finite element method, a three-dimensional rectangular duct MHD model is constructed, in which solid insulating Al₂O₃ particles are assumed to be uniformly distributed in the liquid lithium-lead alloy and interact with the velocity field and the electromagnetic field.By varying the particle quantity and the applied magnetic field strength, the effects of particles on the velocity field, electric potential distribution, and MHD pressure drop are simulated and analyzed.The results show that the introduction of solid insulating particles significantly optimizes the flow characteristics.Under a magnetic field of 2 T, the velocity reduction after adding 128 alumina particles with a diameter of 5 mm is 24.7%, which is substantially smaller than the 64.7% reduction observed without particles.Meanwhile, the dimensionless MHD pressure drop is reduced by 37.4% upon particle doping. Mechanism analysis reveals that the particle-induced micro-Hall effect is the primary mechanism for MHD suppression.The particle doping strategy proposed in this study provides a new theoretical basis and technical pathway for the optimal design of liquid tritium breeder blankets.